Between July 13 and 15 2022, researchers of the StretchBio project performed the first tests of Drosophila tissue compatibility with the silicon nanopillar array and of the effect on the light propagation through it. The work was carried out jointly by researchers from the Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU) and researchers from the Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (IN2UB) and from the Institute of Biomedicine (IBUB), both of the Universitat de Barcelona (UB), who met at the facilities of the University of Barcelona to make the first measurements corresponding to Work Package 3 – Fabrication and characterisation of the nanosensor, led by the DTU, to Work Package 4 – Tissue-nanopillar material compatibility.
The measurements confirmed the successful attachment of the tissues. The light propagation experiments, performed both in air and in water, showed reduced light losses in the optical waveguide. Following this, an updated version of the nanopillar array will be designed and fabricated at DTU, based on these results, and a second round of tests is forecasted after the summer break.
The design, development, fabrication, and testing of the compact nanosystem are some of the main goals of the StretchBio project and are essential to enable drug screening experiments on biopsies.
